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I'm not much for trendy diets - I fully understand that the proper prescription for losing weight is "eat less, move more." Simple. Elegant. Effective. But not easy. I don't really like fruits and vegetables much, and I'm a big fan of ice cream and the salty-crunchy.

So today I went to my first Weight Watchers meeting to help me drop the extra 60 pounds I'm carrying around. This is the heaviest I've ever been (not including being pregnant with the Smart Twins, I mean), and my physical and mental health require that I do something about it. I'm giving myself a year to lose the weight, in order to allow myself a level of flexibility in achieving the goal.

I'm the kind of person who likes structure. I like having a schedule and a plan. Spontaneity sometimes makes me anxious, and I do better in achieving my goals if I can analyze and execute on a structured plan of action with achievable goals. I think Weight Watchers will give me the structure I need. I had some success with their on-line program before, but I think actually going to meetings will provide a level of accountability that the on-line program lacked.

I liked the first meeting, and the members all seemed friendly and supportive. This time next year, I hope to be a svelte Hot Chick, rather than a Rubenesque one.

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Yeah, Janiece! Although I'd submit that you're a hot chick now and you'll be a hot chick then because that's a MENTAL and EMOTIONAL thing, not a function of your waistline.

I am the opposite of you - structured dieting triggers all sorts of OCD and compulsive eating triggers. I do best just focusing on making more healthy choices than unhealthy, and being extremely consistent about exercise.

I've actually lost a lot of weight in the past six months but can't take any credit for discipline or motivation until the last month or so. At first it was my new AD medication - and then grief and neglect like not eating and sleeping.

What I did do was try to make healthy choices about avoiding sugar and junk, and eating fruit and vegetables, when I did eat.

The exercise has been more of a mental health and energy level and tire-me-out-enough-to-sleep release than a conscious decision for healthy weight loss. I get a little compulsive about exercise.. but it's a healthy compulsion as long as I don't overdo.

So, I wish you well with your journey and hope that WW works well for you! Keep us posted.

For healthy loss, you should aim for about a pound a week, recognizing that at some point you're going to hit a plateau you'll have to work through.

Weight Watchers is good because it teaches life style changes instead of giving you a fad diet. But really, it all comes down to the willingness to eat fruits, nuts, and veggies instead of junk.

As Michael Pollan says, "eat food, not too much, mostly plants".

Don't diet. You want to try and permanently change the way you think about food.

You read the Omnivore's Dilemma, yes? I also recommend Eric Schlosser's Fast Food Nation, most anything by Andrew Weil, and Michael Pollan's In Defense of Food, which I'm eating right now.

What worked for me to cut out fast food was to consider the ethics of it. How were the animals involved treated? How are the workers treated? If it's really inexpensive, what quality ingredients am I getting and how were those who made the product treated?

I get what I pay for, and I'd rather pay for well treated animals and workers, even if it costs me more. Not for everyone, but it's helped me change some (not all) of my eating habits.

Thanks for re-joining, I was ALMOST going to stop going to my WW meetings. I have gained about 6 - 7 (maybe more like 8 - 9) ellbees since meeting my goal. I was going to shrug and just say "I am at my set-point", but I will re-double my efforts to eat smartly. Sometimes I am just STARVING TO DEATH. Mechanicky Guy is a good cook, but that doesn't mean I have to EAT IT ALL IN ONE SITTING.I am going to take myself out back and do a re-calibration on myself....

About Me

I am a Hot Chick living in Castle Rock, CO with my fabulous family. We have a rescue dog named "Jackson," and she's a Basenji/Shepherd mix. She's something of a head case, but we love her. I'm a U.S. Navy vet, and I currently work as an Enterprise Solutions Architect, specializing in VoIP and multimedia contact center design. I care about social justice, libraries, science, the U.S. Constitution and the military. I serve as a Director on our local library's Foundation Board. I'm a tax and spend liberal in a largely red county, but I try not to be stabby about it. I aspire to run faster than I do, and I donate knitted cold weather gear to various charities. Stupidity, cupidity and wanton assholery piss me off, and I'm more than a little soft when it comes to dogs and those who serve others. I blog about whatever I feel like. I use foul language, so if that sort of thing offends you, feel free to fuck off now - if I'm unwilling to clean up my language for my fabulous Great Auntie Margie, I'm unlikely to do so for you. Newcomers are welcome here, especially those who disagree with me, but trolling and spamming will be met with the Shovel of Doom™.